A private firm located on Bopal-Ambli Road in Ahmedabad lodged a complaint with the Bodakdev police on Saturday, accusing one of its employees of embezzling over Rs 22 lakh by generating fraudulent consultancy invoices and diverting payments to various bank accounts.
Details of the Complaint
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the complainant, an IT executive at the company, stated that the firm operates from a corporate office on Bopal-Ambli Road and employs approximately 130 staff across its group entities. The accused employee, who served as part of the Human Resources team, was responsible for handling recruitment and consultancy payments. She allegedly abused her position to fabricate invoices.
Discovery of the Fraud
The fraudulent activity came to light on February 21, when the accounts department flagged a suspicious commission bill generated in the name of a consultancy firm. Officials detected discrepancies in employee details, including inflated salary figures and invoices for candidates who were not hired through consultancies. A subsequent internal investigation revealed that similar fake bills had been raised in the names of several consultancy firms over a period of months. These invoices were presented as genuine, and payments were processed after Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) deductions, giving them an appearance of legitimacy.
Financial Impact
Investigators found that between June 2025 and February 2026, payments totaling Rs 20.1 lakh were transferred to accounts of various consultancies based on forged invoices. Additionally, Rs 2.2 lakh was deducted as TDS, bringing the total financial irregularity to Rs 22.3 lakh.
Role of the Accused
Police stated that the accused was entrusted with managing recruitment processes and coordinating with external consultants for hiring. Exploiting this role, she allegedly generated fake billing entries for non-existent placements and diverted funds to select bank accounts. When confronted by management, the employee reportedly stopped reporting to work and was later terminated in late February. The company subsequently conducted a detailed audit before approaching the police.
Legal Action
A case has been registered under charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust, and forgery. Police are now examining the money trail and probing the role of the consultancy firms involved, as well as whether others were complicit in the fraud. Further investigation is underway.
